Success Stories Hinduja Tech Limited Japan Branch

Hinduja Tech, a member of the major India-based transnational conglomerate Hinduja Group, is an offshore service provider in engineering and IT mainly to the automobile and general manufacturing industries. In June 2015, Hinduja Tech opened a branch in Yokohama to provide better support to its Japanese customers. It is now striving to enter the orbit of the Japanese business world and further increase its customer base.

As a company under the umbrella of the India-based transnational Hinduja Group, Hinduja Tech was established in 2009 in Chennai, India. Hinduja Tech specializes in providing offshore service in the engineering and IT fields, mainly targeting the automobile and general manufacturing industries. Its engineering division designs and develops auto bodies and parts as well as provides the software to be embedded in products. Its IT division, meanwhile, develops and operates core systems for its customers and also provides an ERP package service that can efficiently manage a wide range of internal operations from manufacturing to sales to finance. Hinduja Tech has over 800 employees across two bases in India (Chennai and Pune) and five outside (in the US, the UK, Germany, France and Japan).

In the automobile industry, there has recently been a growing demand for innovative technology and high quality amidst fierce global competition. Accordingly, the amount and costs of the development process is increasing. Renowned as a major offshore country, India boasts and is able to provide at low cost a large number of competent human resources well-versed in high technology. Particularly, Hinduja Tech is known for its excellence in strict cost management, advanced technology and extensive service. For this reason, the company counts world-leading Fortune 500 companies among its customers.

Background to Hinduja Tech’s entry into the Japanese market

Hinduja Tech's entry into Japan is in the context of Japan's large, highly diverse, and globalized automotive industry that supplies to both domestic as well as export markets. In addition to top OEMs, a number of companies that develop and manufacture high quality automotive components for the OEMs are based in Japan.
Prior to Japan, Hinduja Tech already had a presence in Germany and US to provide its services to OEMs and suppliers in those markets. However, it felt that to effectively understand the Japanese market dynamics, and to achieve better relationship with Japanese companies, an office was required in Japan itself. Thus, Hinduja Tech established its base in June 2015 in Kanagawa, where is one of the major focal points for the automobile industry.
Having an office in Japan provided the opportunity to understand the Japanese design, manufacturing and business practices better, as well as in developing an understanding of the expectations from these OEMs and Suppliers. It also enabled better communication with the target customers.

Mr. Daisuke Inuzuka, Vice President and Client Partner

Role of the Japanese branch

The Japanese branch is currently preoccupied with follow-up services to its existing customers; for this reason, it has only begun to develop new business in Japan, which is Hinduja Tech’s primary objective. However, the establishment of the Japanese branch has improved the communication between Japan and India, with a favorable reputation obtained from its Japanese customers. The representative of Hinduja Tech’s Japanese branch, Daisuke Inuzuka explains, “Similar problems can occur in any country. However, the Japanese tend to have a business attitude that is totally different from others. For example, when 99% of the quality of a product has been achieved, most non-Japanese deem that they have attained a high level; however, most Japanese consider that they are short by one percent.” He goes on to say, “Generally speaking, the Japanese people’s commitment to quality has made possible the production of high quality goods through advanced technology. However, from a global viewpoint, the Japanese may lack flexibility in some aspects. This is not an issue of which is better or worse. But, what we need to do is ably combine the merits of both Japanese and non-Japanese to create new service or innovation. The Japanese branch is expected to combine the merits of both Japanese and Indians in a balanced way.”
It would be impossible to totally iron out the differences from nation to nation in business culture. However, Mr. Inuzuka insists that the Japanese branch must plod through, and must value, the task of overcoming as many differences as possible.

Hinduja Tech’s advantages and outlook

Hinduja Tech excels in the ability to provide various solutions, from the two aspects of engineering and IT, to a wide range of problems confronting its customers. The Japanese branch intends to enhance its function as a sales base to increase the number of incoming orders in Japan.
In February 2017, the Indian headquarters of Hinduja Tech saw a change in its leadership; accordingly, its business strategy is now drastically changing. Hinduja Tech appears to see Japan as an increasingly important business destination. Mr. Inuzuka is enthusiastic, saying: “Japanese automotive industry is large, and constantly innovating for better products. It is no wonder that Hinduja Tech, with its Product Engineering and IT Service Offerings such as Powertrain Engineering, Vehicle Engineering, Embedded Engineering and Digital Technology Solutions will place greater importance on the Japanese market. We have recently been receiving inquiries from Japanese companies regarding our service offerings. Since our Indian headquarters sees Japan as a nation with high investment efficiency, we feel our Japanese business will grow further.”

Support from JETRO

When Hinduja Tech incorporated its subsidiary in Japan, JETRO’s Invest Japan Business Support Center (IBSC) Kanagawa helped the company by leasing out a temporary office and providing procedural support for incorporation and consultation services by experts.
Regarding JETRO’s support, Mr. Inuzuka says, “We have been able to settle in our current Yokohama office thanks to the reference from JETRO. We are deeply thankful that JETRO has provided extensive assistance for the procedures required when incorporating in Japan. We will strive to expand our business in Japan so that we can continue to make full use of JETRO’s wide-ranging services in the future as well.”

(Interviewed in April 2017)

Company history

2009

Defiance Technologies Limited established in Chennai, India

2014

Company name changed from Defiance Technologies Limited to Hinduja Tech Limited

2015

Branch in Yokohama established

Hinduja Tech Limited Japan Branch

Established in

June 2015

Business overview

Provision of engineering and IT services to the automobile and general manufacturing industries